San Luis Obispo Store

The San Luis Obispo (Calif.) retail store is a lesson in politics, permits, negotiation, architecture, construction and urbanization. The long story began with Apple's request to use stainless steel on the outside of the building, continued with public hearings and Planning Commission objections, and then ended with some negotiations and revised architectural plans.

An early rendering of the store shows stainless steel framing the Higuera Street entrance to the store, which is part of a one-quarter block shopping complex. Apple originally intended to the space from the corner to the second pillar (in this photo, the black space to the right of the tree). However, the company scaled back the space, leaving the other space vacant. As you can see from the final result, the Apple store uses only a single lighted sign on the outside to announce the store. The windows along the left are not real, but instead are back-lit at night to give a see-through effect. Those are ficus trees framing the store, and they're common throughout the downtown.

Check the grand opening coverage for more photos.